THE MISSISSIPPI KITE Vol. 47 (2) December 2017 THE MISSISSIPPI KITE The Mississippi Kite is sent to all members of the Mississippi Ornithological Society not in arrears of dues. Send change of address, requests for back issues, and claims for undelivered or defective copies to the Membership Committee Chair, Gene Knight, at 79 Hwy. 9 W., Oxford, MS 38655. Information for Authors The Mississippi Kite publishes original articles that advance the study of birdlife in the state of Mississippi. Submission of articles describing species occurrence and distribution, descriptions of unusual birds or behaviors, notes on the identification of Mississippi birds, as well as scientific studies from all fields of ornithology are encouraged. Submit all manuscripts in either a paper copy or digital copy format to the Editor, Nick Winstead, at Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, 2148 Riverside Dr., Jackson, MS 39202 or through email at [email protected]. COPY – Paper copy manuscripts should be typed and double-spaced throughout. Digital copy manuscripts should be prepared using 12 pt. Times New Roman font. If possible, please submit digital files in Microsoft Word. Handwritten manuscripts may also be accepted, but please contact the editor prior to submission. STYLE – For questions of style consult previous issues of The Mississippi Kite. Manuscripts should include a title, names and addresses of all authors, text, and where applicable, literature cited, tables, figures, and figure legends. Number all pages in the upper right-hand corner. Avoid footnotes. LITERATURE CITED – List all references cited in the text alphabetically by the author’s last name in the Literature Cited section. Citations should conform to the style of a recent issue of The Mississippi Kite. NOMENCLATURE – Common names of bird species should be capitalized. Provide the scientific name, italicized and in parentheses, at the first mention of each species. Nomenclature should follow the American Ornithologists’ Union Check-list of North American Birds, 7th edition (1998) and the 42nd (2000) through 58th (2017) supplements. TABLES – Tables should be formatted with the size of The Mississippi Kite in mind, and should be interpretable without reference to the text. FIGURES – Figures should be appropriate for photoreproduction without retouching. THE MISSISSIPPI KITE The Mississippi Kite is a biannual periodical published by the Mississippi Ornithological Society to record and further the study of Mississippi birdlife. Vol. 47, No. 2 December 2017 CONTENTS 50 WINTERING RED-TAILED HAWK (BUTEO JAMAICENSIS) SUBSPECIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI ALLUVIAL VALLEY by Hal Mitchell and Kristina Mitchell 63 CHIMNEY SWIFT (CHAETURA PELAGICA) USE OF BRIDGE DEBRIS DEFLECTOR COLUMNS by Chazz Coleman and Andrea Schuhmann 68 BUCK ISLAND ROAD by J.R. Rigby 70 NORTH AMERICAN BREEDING BIRD SURVEY IN MISSISSIPPI by Daniel J. Twedt and Keith L. Pardieck 84 BIRDS AROUND THE STATE: JANUARY-JULY 2017 by Nicholas A. Winstead 100 CLAPPER RAILS ALLOPREENING by Brian Johnston 101 KILLDEER FOSSIL NEST by George Phillips and James Starnes 102 UPLAND SANDPIPER SEEKING CAMOUFLAGE by Holly Cox 103 LEUCISTIC SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER by Wayne Patterson 105 AVIAN PREDATORS AT A LEAST TERN COLONY DURING TROPICAL STORM CINDY by Holly Cox 106 AMERICAN GOLDFINCH EATING ALGAE by Nicholas A. Winstead 108 THANK YOU TO THE 2017 REVIEWERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI KITE by Nicholas A. Winstead COVER IMAGE: Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), 4 March 2017, Tunica County, Mississippi, by Hal Mitchell. Subspecies may be a heavily marked B. j. borealis or B. j. abieticola. 50 The Mississippi Kite 47 (2) WINTERING RED-TAILED HAWK (BUTEO JAMAICENSIS) SUBSPECIES IN THE MISSISSIPPI ALLUVIAL VALLEY Hal Mitchell and Kristina Mitchell 1363 Fox Chase Dr. Southaven, MS 38671 Every winter, the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) hosts thousands of Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis; National Audubon Society 2010). These individuals originate from a widespread geographic expanse that includes the breeding ranges of several subspecies. These subspecies include Eastern (B. j. borealis), Western (B. j. calurus), Northern (B. j. abieticola), Krider’s (B. j. kriderii), and Harlan’s (B. j. harlani) Red-tailed Hawks. It is important to note that not all experts agree on which subspecies should be designated as such. In this article we follow the American Ornithologists’ Union 1957 Check-list of North American Birds (American Ornithologists’ Union 1957), as it was the last to include subspecies. One exception is the Northern Red- tailed Hawk, which was described in 1950 (Todd 1950), but not included in the 1957 Check-list. This article describes some of the plumage diversity we observed from these subspecies in the MAV during the 2011-2017 winter seasons. Further, we emphasize the difficulties of determining subspecies in the field due to overlapping field marks and the limited information on subspecies’ wintering ranges. For Red-tailed Hawk subspecies identification, consider that subspecies markings fall within a broad spectrum of plumage characters (e.g., abdominal band coverage, light vs. dark plumage, etc.). The plumage descriptions below note differences in the major body regions where one should focus attention when parsing out Red-tailed Hawk subspecies. Upperparts refer to the dorsal body, wings, and crown while underparts include the abdomen, December 2017 The Mississippi Kite 47 (2) 51 underwings, and throat. Many of the plumage characters we mention often cannot be easily observed in the field; thus many individuals cannot be identified to subspecies. Additionally, many intergrades occur from interbreeding among subspecies and their respective color morphs, making subspecies identification problematic. However, adherence to referencing key field marks listed in the following descriptions may help birders elucidate origins of the many individuals that comprise one of the MAV’s most ubiquitous birds. SUBSPECIES AND ASSOCIATED COLOR MORPHS Eastern Red-tailed Hawk The most common subspecies encountered is the Eastern Red-tailed Hawk. Eastern Red-tailed Hawks are present year-round in the MAV, and they have a large breeding range throughout eastern North America. This subspecies exhibits a high degree of variability in its markings and coloration, but has only a single color morph (Dunne et al. 2012). Both immature and adult upperparts tend to be pale brown with some whitish spotting (averaging whiter on immatures), and underparts are usually characterized by unmarked white throats, a clean white upper breast with a dark brown abdominal band, and dark patagial bars (Dunne et al. 2012). Immature Eastern Red-tailed Hawks exhibit light to heavy abdominal markings, lighter-colored primary feathers that create translucent “panels”, and a brownish-gray and black banded tail (Figure 1); while adults usually have moderate abdominal markings and the characteristic clean red tail with a thin black sub-terminal band (Figure 2; Dunne et al. 2012). December 2017 52 The Mississippi Kite 47 (2) (A) (B) Figure 1. Immature Eastern Red-tailed Hawks, Tunica County, Mississippi, 2017. Underparts (A) show heavy abdominal streaking and pale inner primaries. Upperparts (B) show a brownish-gray tail with many dark bands. (A) (B) Figure 2. Adult Eastern Red-tailed Hawks, Panola County, Mississippi, 2017. Underparts (A) show moderate abdominal streaking and an atypically dark throat. Upperparts (B) have whitish spotting and a characteristic red tail with a relatively thin black sub-terminal band. Western Red-tailed Hawk Western Red-tailed Hawks breed mostly west of the Rocky Mountains (Preston and Beane 2009), and are likely the rarest December 2017 The Mississippi Kite 47 (2) 53 visitors to the MAV during winter (Brian Sullivan personal communication). Their prevalence may be misrepresented due to the near resemblance of plumage characteristics among light Western Red-tailed Hawks and heavily marked Eastern and Northern Red-tailed Hawks. However, most Western Red-tailed Hawks exhibit a thinly banded tail with a thick black sub-terminal band and rufous uppertail coverts (Lish and Voelker 1986, Liguori and Sullivan 2014). Western Red-tailed Hawks exhibit polymorphism that is expressed in three unique plumages: light, dark, and rufous/ intermediate (Liguori 2004). Light: Light-morphs show darker- brown upperparts with limited white spotting (compared to Eastern Red-tailed Hawks). The underparts tend to show an overall rufous wash throughout, and have heavy streaking on the abdominal band and underwings. The throat is usually dark. Dark: Dark-morphs show all dark plumage on the upper- and underparts. Sometimes, faint rufous tones are suffused throughout the upper breast. Rufous/intermediate: Rufous/intermediate-morphs resemble dark- morphs, with dark upperparts and mostly dark underparts; however, they usually also exhibit distinct rufous coloration on the upper breast (Liguori 2004). Northern Red-tailed Hawk Northern Red-tailed Hawks breed predominately in Canada (Dickerman and Parkes 1987), and are a more recent discovery to our region, likely having been overlooked as heavily marked Eastern or Western Red-tailed Hawks. Their body underparts exhibit a rufous tinge overall with a dark throat, an upper breast area usually characterized by brownish drip-like markings, and a heavy abdominal band often described as being “blobby” (Figures 3, 4; Liguori and Sullivan 2014). Their underwing may be characterized by dark patagials and other dark-rufous markings December